Pan fastener for conveyer machinery



s, 19372. I Afl NOUSl 1,877,25

PAN FASTENER FOR CONVEYER MACHINERY Filed July 13. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet lSept, 13; "1932.

PAN FASTENER FOR ooNvEYER MACHINERY Filed July 15, 1931 2y sheets-sheet2 l m Y Y Y A. .1. Nousl ,877,025 v Patented Sept. 13, 1932 orticaPATENT? PAN FASTENER non GONVEYER MACHINERY Application lediuly 13,1931.v Serial No. 550,520.

This invention relates tov panr fasteners for conveyer machinery and hasYfor its `principal object to provide a strong, ldurable pan fastenerwhich will be quick acting 4both in application to and removal-from theeyes of adjoining pans of al conveyer.

ln the coal mining industry where conveyor machines are used, includinga string ofpans to transport the coal from place to the cars in the mainentry, ordinary bolts have'hitherto been used for coupling together theeyes of adjoining pans. get out of order as. the threads wear out andbreak, and it takes considerable time to apply and remove the bolts.Itis, therefore, a further objectV of the present invention to provide apan fastener devoid ofgscrew threads and including essentially a pair ofsliding and pivoted plates, onecarryinga couplethe eyes of contiguouspans, and oper` ated by simply rocking'.V a single leverfwhich carries acam `that operateson jaws ofthe plates to move the bolt and lug towardeach other. f

With the above and other. objectsin view the invention consists-incertain novel de -v tails of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, itY being` understood thatvarious modifications may be resorted to within thescope of the appendedclaims without departiiigfrom the spirit or sacrificing any ofv thevadvantages of the invention.

f 1n vthe accompanying drawings r.forming part of thisspecification,

. Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device' in operative positionforcoupling ,together two adjoining pans, j

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,j j

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional viewtaken on the lline 3-3 of Fig. 2but showing the parts open preparatory to being applied, 3 Fig. 4 isarear elevation of the device in the position shown in Fig. 3, andA Fig.5 is a perspective view of the device.

Referring now to the drawings in whichA like characters of referencedesignate similar TJ parts in the various views, designates ad- Thesebolts frequentlymain bolt and the other carrying a Vlug to',

joining pans of a conveyer, and lldesignates contiguous eyes of thepans.-

F orcoupling the eyes 1l together, Iprovide a device, best shown in Fig.5, comprising a pair yof plates 12 and 13 recessedonV their 55 innerlfaces to receive between them a cam disk 141, best `shown in Fig. 3.The two semicircular halves'of the cam disk are eccen trically disposedwith respect to each other. One of the halves is provided with anintegral 60 operatinglever 15, and the-other is provided with ratchetteeth 16. A pivot pin 17 connects the plates and the cani, and both ofthe plates are -provided with longitudinal, slots 18l which slidablyreceive the pivot pin,so 65 that when the lever is rocked the plateshave pivotal as well as` sliding movement on the pivot pin when the camis rotated, as will be presently described in detail.

- The plate'12- is provided with a transverse 70 l head 19'whichterminates ina lug 20. The plate 12 adjacent theV head is recessed toprovidea socket 21, best shown in Fig. 2," to receiveV the free end 22of the vplate 18, which free end is rounded, as shown at 241 in Fig.' 753, to easily enter the socket 2l.

. Likewise, the plate 13 is provided withy a transverse head 25, bestshown yiin Fig. 5,

which terminatesin a main 4bolt 26 -of considerably greater length thanlthe' lug 20 and S( y I disposed in f alinement therewith. Adjacent the`headrthe bolt is provided withan' upstandinglug 27 which is adapted toengage in Y a slot iiithev eye of one of thc'pans and prevent rota-tionVof the device; l,The head is S5 provided with right' angiilarlydisposedlugs, designated general by the numeral 28, Fig.- Y 5, whicli'mayf bestruck by a hammer or aXto getthe' bolt out of the pan eyes whennecessary. rlhe head 25 `is hollowed out to' provide a socket29 toreceive the free end of the plate 12, which free-end is rounded at thebottom, as shownat 30to facilitate easy entryA into the socket. v

` An angular 'dog Slis pivoted, as shown at 32 in Fig. 2, on the plate12 and projects through a recess 33 in said platev to engage the ratchetteeth 16 of the Camila. A helical spring ,311 is interposed between thefreeleg loq of the dog and the plate 12 to hold the dog normally engagedwith the ratchet teeth.

By referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, it will. be seen that the oii'setportions of the plates 12 and 13, which receive between them the cam 14,provide respective jaws 35 and 36, against which the opposite camsurfaces of the cam bear. When the minor diameter ot the cam engagesboth jaws, as shown in Fig. 3, it will be apparent that, by swinging thelever 15 in the direction of the arrow-head,

the jaws 35 and 36 will be spread apart by the cam. Spreading apart ofthe jaws moves the plates longitudinally and ca'rries the tree end ofeach plate into the socket of the other plate. Since the main bolt 26and lug 20 are carried respectively by sockc'ged ends of the plates, itwill be apparent that the main bolt and lug have consequently been movedtoward each other to the position shown in Fig. 2. The eXtreme length ofthe bolt permits the bolt entering two contiguous eyes 11 while the lug2O enters one of the eyes only.

Preparatory to applying the device,.the

dog is released and the lever 15 is rocked to one limit of its movement,as shown best in Fig. 3, to bring the minor diameter oi"- the cam 14between the jaws 35 and 36. The plates may now be manually pulled apartto withdraw the free end of each plate from the socket in the oppositeplate and move the main bolt 26 and lug 20 apart from each other to wideopen position. During such movement of the plates, both plates must berocked on the pivot pin 17 to dispose the main bolt and the lug out ofalinement, as best' shown in Fig. 4. The purpose oi this is to permitthe lug being raised above the eyes 11 to ride along above the eyes asthe ldevice is moved bodily manually in the direction of the arrow-head.Vhen the bolt 26 has entered the eyes in position to couple the eyes,the lug is manually depressed to aline with the bolt and then the lever15 is rocked to its opposite limit of movement to bring the maj ordiameter of the cam 14 against the jaws and 36, during which movement01": the cam the tree end of each plate is thrust into the socket of theopposite plate, with consequent movement of the main bolt 26 and the lugI) toward each other so that both the bolt and the lug are inserted inthe eyes, as best i shown in Fig. 2. The dog 3l-automatically locks thecam at this operative limit of movement.

From the above description, it will be ob-v served that, by operating asingle lever, the device may be applied to or removed from the eyes ofcontiguous pans so that a quick coupling or uncoupling of the pans ispromoted. Furthermore, it will be observed that there are no threadedbolts entering the eyes and that the main bolt and lug which do enterthe eyes are without threads and slide toward and away from each other,thus resulting in minimum wear to both these moving parts, as well as tothe eyes.

Having thus described the invention, l claim:

1.. A pan fastener for conveyers compri ing spaced plates pivotally andslidably connected together and having opposite jaws, each plate havinga socket at one endv receiving the tree end of the other plate, a boltcarried by the socket end of one plate, a lug carried by the socket endof the other plate, and a' cam disposed between the plates and engagingthe jaws of the plates for moving the plates longitudinally withconsequent movement of the bolt and lug toward each other for entry intothe contiguous eyes of adjoining conveyer pans. f

2. A device for. coupling togetherV contiguous eyes ot adjoiningconveyer pans comprising a pair of plates pivotally and slidablyconnected together and having jaws disposed on opposite sides ot thepivot, a cam disposed between the plates having semi-circulareccentrically disposed cam surfaces adapted to engage said jaws, asocket on each plate for engaging the free end of the other plate, a lugon the socket end ot one plate, and a bolt on the socket end of theother plate, movement of the cam to bring the or diameter thereofagainst said moving said plates longitudinally with consequent movementof the bolt and lug toward each other to enter said eyes and couple thepans together.

3. A device for 'coupling together contiguous eyes of adjoining pans ofa conveyer comprising a pair of longitudinally slotted plates eachhaving a socket at one end receiving the free` end of the oppositeplate, said plates being offset from each other to provide jaws on theirinner faces disposed on opposite sides of said slots, a cam disposed inthe oi'set portions of. the plates, a pivot pin passed through said camand through said slots for pivotally and slidably mounting the jaws andthe cam relatively to each other, a lug carried by the socket end of oneplate, and a bolt carried by the socket end of the other plate, pivotalmovement oit the plates permitting of the lug being disposed l' out ofalinement with the bolt to permit the bolt being thrust into said eyes,reverse pivotal movement then permitting said lug to be brought intoalinement with said bolt whereby movement of the cam" against the jawsserves to slide said plates longitudinally and thrust'said bolt and saidlug into said eyes.

tiguous eyes o'l' adjoining pans of a conveyer comprising relativelymovable plates, a cam for moving the plates in one directionlongitudinally, a bolt carried by one plate, a lug carried by the otherplate, and a socket car- 4. A device for coupling together cont ried byeach plate receiving the free end of the other plate. Y

5. A pan fastener for conveyers comprising a pair of plates pivotallyand slidably connected together and each having a socket at one endreceiving the free end of the other plate, a cam between the platehaving semicircular eccentrically disposed cam surfaces, jaws on theplates for engagement with said surfaces, a lug carried by the socketend of one plate, and a bolt carried by the socket end of the otherplate, rotation of the cam to bring the minor diameter thereof betweensaid jaws permitting of said plates being manually spread apart to movesaid bolt and said lug outwardly from each other, movement of said camto bring the major diameter against said jaws moving said plateslongitudinally and moving said bolt and said lug toward each other toengage in said eyes.

6. A pan fastener for conveyer pans comprising spaced plates slidablyand pivotally connected together, a socket carried by each platereceiving the free end of the opposite plate, a cam disposed between theplates and operatively connected to the plates to move the plateslongitudinally toward each other, a bolt carried by one of the plates, alug carried by the other plate, and a pivoted spring presseddog carriedby one oftheplates and operatively connected to the cam for locking thecam stationary at one limit off its movement. Y

In testimony whereof I aEX my signature.

ADAM J. NOUSI.

